Compressed, interlocked block wall



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COMPRESSED, INTERLOGKED BLOCK WALL Filed July 28, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR.

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BY 40, A! lfM United States Patent 3,382,632 COMPRESSED, INTERLOCKEDBLOCK WALL Paul W. Grofcsik, 720 Borbeck Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19111Filed July 28, 1965, Ser. No. 475,369 2 Claims. (Cl. 52-228) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A block and wall construction comprising blocks havingcooperating projections and cavities and an embedded tie bar for use insecuring the blocks of a wall together by means of tie rods.

Summary of the invention Briefly stated, the present invention relatesto a block and Wall construction particularly adapted for use in variouswater control applications such as dams, dikes, jetties, coastal erosionprojects or the like. Some of the advantages of the invention are theprovision of a block and Wall construction which is inexpensive in bothmanufacture and installation, which provides a sturdy, long lasting wallstructure, which will maintain its water control function effectivelythroughout long periods of time, and which is adapted to be disassembledfor use at another application. The manner in which these advantages areachieved in accordance with the invention is by the provision of a blockconstruction whereby a plurality of blocks may be assembled together bymeans of cooperating projections and cavities formed thereon andsuitable tie rods which secure the blocks together under verticaltension so as to prevent leakage through the wall structure and toprovide a sturdy wall construction, there being provided tie barsextending transversely through vertical passages in each block andadapted to be engaged by the tie rods for securing layers of the blockstogether in vertical tension.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a vertical section view ofa block construction in accordance with the invention taken on line 11of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of FIGURE FIGURE 3 is a planview of a block in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section of a portion of a vertical wallconstruction in accordance with the invention comprising a plurality ofblocks stacked vertically;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing a wall comprising a plurality ofthe blocks shown in FIGURES 1 to 3;

FIGURE 1A is a vertical section of another form of block construction inaccordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2A is a vertical section of a plurality of the blocks shown inFIGURE 1A stacked vertically in a wall construction;

FIGURES 3A and 4A are views of an interlocking block used in assemblingthe blocks as shown in FIGURE 2A, FIGURE 3A being a section taken online 3A-3A of FIGURE 4A; and

FIGURE 5A is a perspective view showing a wall con:

struction comprising the blocks of FIGURE 1A.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 to 3, the block, which is indicated generallyat and has a rectangular shape, comprises end walls 12 and 14, sidewalls 16 and 18, top wall 20 and bottom wall 22. Eight cavities 24 areformed in the block 10 to extend downwardly from the top wall 20. Eachcavity 24 has a shape of inverted truncated ice square pyramid as viewedin the drawings whereby the cavities 24 are defined by four wallsinclined progressively inwardly from the top to the bottom of the block.Each cavity 24 is spaced equally from a cavity adjacent thereto at rightangles. The distance between the axis of each cavity and an adjacentside or end wall is equal to one half the distance between the axes ofadjacent cavities. In accordance with the above block construction, itis possible to assemble the blocks in various positions with respect toone another as will appear hereafter.

At the lower end of each cavity 24 there is formed a horizontallyextending shoulder 26 having a square shape. There is provided a passage28 extending downwardly from the lower end of each cavity 24 entirelythrough the block 10. Each passage 28 is arranged to be concentric withthe corresponding cavity 24 and also has the shape of an invertedtruncated square pyramid as viewed in the drawings although the passages28 are somewhat narrower than the cavities 24. It will be apparent thatthe cavities 24 and the passages 28 cooperate to provide eightvertically extending openings in the block 10, the axes of theseopenings being equally spaced as discussed above.

On the bottom wall 22 of the block 10 there are provided eightprojections 30 in alignment with the upper cavities 24 and having ashape similar thereto whereby the projections will fit snugly within thecavities 24 when stacked on a lower block as shown in FIGURE 4. In theassembled stacked condition of the blocks, the inclined Walls of theprojections 30 cooperate with the inclined walls of the cavities 24 toposition the blocks relative to one another and to limit any lateralmovement therebetween. A pair of blocks assembled together with theprojections 30 of the upper block extending within the cavities 24 ofthe lower block will provide an arrangement in which the bottom wall 22of the upper block is in contact with the top wall 20 of the lower blockand the side walls 16 and 18 of the stacked blocks lie in the samevertical planes,

In an actual wall construction, the blocks would most likely bestaggered relative to one another as shown in FIGURE 5.

The block 10 is provided with means for use in securing or clamping aplurality of blocks together vertically. To this end, there is embeddedin each block 10 a tie bar 32 which has a rectangular shape as shown inFIGURE 3 and lies in a horizontal plane. The tie bar 32 is arranged toextend transversely through each of the vertical passages 28 in theblock 10.

FIGURE 4 illustrates the manner in which a plurality of the blocks 10are stacked vertically and various layers are secured together. Thisvertical stacking of the blocks is achieved by placing one upon theother so that projections 30 of the upper block extend within thecorresponding cavities 24 in the lower block as will be obvious from aconsideration of FIGURES 4 and 5 The cooperation between the projectionsand the cavities will hold the blocks together and prevent any lateralmovement therebetween.

In order to secure the vertically stacked layers of blocks togethertightly, a plurality of tie rods, such as 34, 36 and 38, areinterconnected in tension between various pairs of blocks in differentlayers. Each of the tie rods 34, 36 and 38 has a hook at the lower endand is externally threaded at the top end. In order to interconnect apair of blocks, a tie rod is hooked in engagement with the tie bar 32 ofthe lower block and extends vertically upwardly through the alignedpassages 28 in the blocks into engagement with an anchor plate 40supported on the horizontal shoulder 26 of the upper block. The meansfor engaging the upper end of the tie bar with the anchor plate 40comprises a nut 42 threaded onto the upper end of the tie bar, the nutcooperating with a washer 44 and being adjusted to clamp the blocks ofthe different layers together by providing the proper tension on the tiebar. The tie bars may be of various sizes and may span various layers ofblocks. As shown in FIGURE 4, the tie bar 34 is arranged to clamp blocksin the upper and the intermediate layers together and the tie bar 36 isarranged to clamp blocks in the upper and lower layers together whileextending through the aligned passage 28 in the intermediate layerblock.

In the assembly of a wall structure, the tie bars are arranged to extendbetween various layers of the wall. Moreover, the tie bars will beprovided only as needed in accordance with the particular applicationinvolved. As the wall is built, the tie rods will be provided as neededto clamp the added layers of blocks to those beneath and will bearranged to span various layers of the blocks as is shown in FIGURE 4.

It will be noted that the tie bars 36 serve two functions, namely, as aconnection for clamping the blocks together, and as a place where theblocks can be engaged for moving the blocks during assembly of a wall orfor some other purpose.

In FIGURE 5, there is shown an illustrative wall constructiondemonstrating the versatility of the block and wall construction inaccordance with the invention. In this figure, the blocks are shown inan arrangement providing a right angular wall construction. This type ofconstruction is possible by reason of the construction of each blockwith the openings spaced equally and being spaced from the side walls ofthe blocks a distance so that as the blocks are placed side-to-end orend-to-end, there will be provided an arrangement which can acceptanother layer of blocks at a plurality of locations. To provide maximumstrength, the blocks are staggered relative to adjacent layers as shownin FIGURE 5.

The blocks may be made of various sizes and may be constructed ofconcrete, cement or any of the well-known materials used for buildingblocks. By way of a typical example, the block 10 will, for many watercontrol applications, comprise approximately one cubic yard of material.

In order to increase the sealing of a wall constructed of the blocks 10,a suitable sealer and/ or gaskets may be positioned between the abuttingfaces in accordance with procedures well known in the art. Moreover, inorder to increase the corrosion resistance of the blocks, they may besprayedwith a suitable corrosion resistant material such as Fiberglas.

A feature of a wall construction in accordance with the invention isthat it may be assembled quickly and easily. Moreover, for manyapplications it can be used instead of walls formed by the pouring ofconcrete in accordance with present practices. Furthermore, the wallconstructed in accordance with the invention may be of a temporarynature in that it can be disassembled if desired and moved to anotherapplication or location. It will be obvious that disassembly may beachieved very simply by merely disconnecting the tie rods and removingthe blocks.

In FIGURES 1A to 5A there is disclosed a second form of the inventioninvolving a block and wall construction in which the rectangular blocks50 are constructed so that they may be used on either side. The block 50is similar to the block except that there are no projections on eitherhorizontal face and the vertically extending passages have a differentshape. The block 50 is rectangular and is provided with a flat upperface 52 and a fiat lower face 54 as viewed in FIGURE 1A. Extendingdownwardly from the upper face 52 are eight cavities 56 having apyramid-like shape similar to the cavities 24 of block 10. Extendingupwardly from the bottom face 54 are eight cavities 58 identical withthe cavities 56 except that they project in the opposite direction. Asis apparent from FIGURE 1A the cavities 56 and 58 are in alignment andare symmetrically arranged with respect to the central horizontal planeof the block 50. The spacing of the cavities 56 and 58 with respect tothe sides of the rectangular block is similar to the arrangement of thecavities 24 of block 10 in order to permit the blocks to fit together invarious positions. At the inner ends of the cavities 56 and 58 there areprovided horizontally extending shoulders 60 and 62, respectively. Avertically extending passage 64 is provided between each aligned pair ofcavities 56 and 58, wherefore there are provided, in effect, eightvertically extending passages through each block 50.

The block 50 has embedded therein a tie bar 66 which has a rectangularshape and lies in the central horizontal plane of the block. The tie bar66 is similar to the bar 52 of the block 10 and is arranged to extendthrough each of the vertically extending passages 64 in the block 50.

It will thus be apparent that the block 50 has a symmetricalconstruction with respect to the central horizontal plane so that theblock 50 may be used on either side in the construction of a wall.

In order to assemble the blocks in a stacked condition for forming awall, there are provided a plurality of interlocking blocks 70. Eachblock is constructed with identical upper and lower halves adapted tofit into the cavities 56 and 58 when a pair of the blocks 50 arepositioned on top of one another as is shown in FIGURE 2A. FIGURES 2Aand 5A illustrate the manner in which a wall is constructed by stackinga plurality of the blocks 50 together. In order to add a layer of blockson top of a previously assembled layer, the cavities 56 in the top wallhave positioned therein one of the interlocking blocks 70. In thiscondition, the upper wall of the block 50 is provided with upwardlyextending projections adapted to receive the cavities 58 in the bottomwall of the block comprising the next layer. The cooperation between theinterlocking blocks 70 and the cavities 56 and 58 will hold the blocksin each adjacent layer together and prevent any lateral movement betweenadjacent layers of blocks.

In order to secure the vertically stacked blocks together there areprovided a plurality of tie rods similar to the tie rods employed in theform of the invention shown in FIGURES 1 to 5. These tie rods areindicated at 74, 76, and 78 in FIGURE 2A and each has a hook at itslower end and is externally threaded at its upper end. The rods 74, 76,and 78 are arranged to extend vertically through aligned passages 64 inthe layers of blocks so as to be hooked in engagement with the tie bar66 of the lower block and to be anchored on the upper face of theinterlocking block 70 for the upper block. The upper end of the tie baris engaged with the interlocking block 70 by means of a nut 78cooperating with a washer 80, the nut 78 being adjusted to provide theproper tension on the tie bar. As is shown in FIGURES 2A, 3A and 4A, theinterlocking blocks 70 are provided with a vertically extending opening82 to accommodate the tie bars as is best shown in FIGURE 2A.

FIGURE 5A illustrates the staggered arrangement of the blocks 50 inadjacent layers as they are stacked together to form a wall. This figurealso illustrates the manner in which a corner may be formed by means ofthe blocks in accordance with the invention.

It will be apparent that various changes may be made in the constructionand arrangement of parts without departing from the scope of theinvention wherefore it is not desired to be limited except as requiredby the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A wall for use in water control applications and the like comprisinga plurality of rectangular blocks arranged end to end and stacked invertical layers, means interlocking blocks in at least a pair ofadjacent layers, said interlocking means including a plurality ofcavities in said blocks in the lower layer extending downwardly from theupper face thereof, a plurality of cavities in said blocks in the upperlayer extending upwardly from the lower face thereof .and being inalignment with said first mentioned cavities, a plurality ofinterlocking members each of which is positioned to extend and fitwithin a pair of aligned cavities so as to restrict lateral movementbetween the interlocked blocks, means for clamping said layers of blockstogether vertically, said interlocked blocks having a plurality ofpassages extending vertically therethrough and aligned with saidcavities therein, said interlocking members having a verticallyextending bore in alignment with said vertical passages, said clampingmeans including a plurality of tie rods, a tie bar in said blocks of thelower layer extending transversely through the vertically extendingpassages therein, and means mounting said tie rods in tension with theupper end being anchored to said upper block and the lower end beingengaged with said tie bar and with each tie rod extending throughaligned vertically extending passages in the blocks and the aligned borein the corresponding interlocking member.

2. A wall according to claim 1 wherein all of the .blocks in each layerhave a similar construction and are References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 411,027 9/ 1889 Heindel 52-227 869,770 10/ 1907 Birnstock 52-600X 2,684,589 7/1954 Perreton 52-228 X 3,296,758 1/ 1967 Knudsen 52-584 X1,630,698 5/ 1927 Florey 52-594 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,180 6/1900 GreatBritain.

647,249 7/1928 France.

980,948 1/ 1951 France. 1,157,975 1/ 1958 France. 1,274,931 9/ 1961France.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner.

